NASA Delays Shuttle Mission

NASA's final visit to the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed at least a month due to the extra time needed to build the shuttle fuel tanks needed for the flight and a potential rescue mission. The Hubble mission is unique, in that it is the first non-ISS flight since the Columbia disaster in 2003. As such, should something go awry on the first shuttle's launch, a rescue shuttle would need to be launched to pick up the stranded astronauts. Up until this point, if a shuttle was damaged during launch, the astronauts could hang out at the ISS and not be in danger.

Atlantis and her crew were supposed to launch in late August but now won't make the journey until the end of September or early October.

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